Howells: Hymnus Paradisi

Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra joins Brighton Festival Chorus for a richly atmospheric programme of Vaughan Williams, Walton, Howells and Britten, exploring humanity’s relationship with nature, loss, and transcendence.

The concert opens with Ralph Vaughan Williams’  ‘Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus’ which was written for a British Council commission in New York in 1939. Based on the English folk song of the same name, it has become one of his best loved works, and was played at Vaughan Williams’ funeral in 1958.  From there, we turn to the deeply personal voice of Herbert Howells in his Elegy for Viola and String Orchestra – a poignant meditation on grief and remembrance, suffused with tenderness and introspection. A special highlight of the evening is ‘Nature’s Lament’, an original work by students of BHASVIC. This powerful new piece reflects the urgency of the climate crisis through fresh, contemporary voices, offering both challenge and hope.

Following the interval, one of the most profound choral works of the twentieth century: Howells’ Hymnus Paradisi. Written in the shadow of personal tragedy, this extraordinary composition moves from darkness to radiant consolation, blending choir and orchestra in music of luminous beauty and spiritual depth.

“‘It is the blaze of a thousand suns in the Sanctus, it is a golden radiance in the penultimate chorus; and at last, to the words requiem sempiternam, it is the light of dawn.’  Frank Howes, Times music critic after first performance in 1950

Set within the stunning surroundings of All Saints, Hove, this promises to be an unforgettable evening of music that speaks to the heart, the present moment, and the enduring power of human creativity & hope.